Ofcom has formally opened an inquiry to determine if GB News and TalkTV violated broadcasting regulations.
The first review will examine into whether a State Of The Nation episode shown by GB News complies with standards after Jacob Rees-Mogg reported a breaking news story concerning a civil trial judgement involving Donald Trump.
Following the episode’s airing on May 9, the television watchdog received 40 complaints about it.
‘We are examining whether this broadcast violated our rules, which prohibit politicians from appearing as newsreaders unless editorially warranted,’ said an Ofcom representative.
The second will look at an April 2 edition of TalkTV’s Richard Tice presented by Alex Salmond, with the watchdog determining if laws requiring news and current affairs to be presented with due impartiality were infringed.
To ensure that our broadcasting laws remain relevant and effective, Ofcom is also asking what people think about politicians presenting current affairs programmes.
‘The rules around politicians presenting programmes were first introduced in 2005,’ they said.
‘Given the rise in the number of current affairs programmes presented by sitting politicians and recent public interest in this issue, we are conducting new research to gauge current audience attitudes towards these programmes.’
Ofcom has engaged the assistance of a reputable research firm and plans to release its results later this year.
Source My Celebrity Life.
